BEIJING. Dec 3 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia and China are facing important common goals at the present time, among them the struggle with extremism and separatism, the prevention of regional conflicts, and countermeasures against trans-national crime, Russian President Vladimir Putin said speaking to students and the faculty of Beijing University on Tuesday morning.
"A crucial task is to ensure stability in Central Asia," Putin said. "It appears that this region has gradually become a target for criminal schemes and actions of international terrorism of late," the president said. "In this connection, I believe we should improve coordination in fighting terror, and we need to continue to work together to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the leak of nuclear and other dangerous technology," he said.
"It is necessary to combine efforts of not only countries, but also business and scientific communities; in other words, we need concentration of intellectual potential to work out comprehensive solutions to the most important problems of the day," Putin said.
To attain these objectives, "we must lean on international legal norms and the goals and principles of the UN Charter, and actively employ the universal nature and potential of this organization and its institutions," Putin said.
"In settling crises, we must give priority to political- diplomatic methods and multilateral mechanisms complying with the UN Security Council resolutions," he said.